Re: ZAHRA CLAIRE BAKER - Aged 10 years - Hickory, North Carolina (USA)

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:31 am

WRAL

3 November 2010

Investigators find bone during search for missing Hickory girl‎

Search teams in Caldwell County recovered a bone on Wednesday that might be related to the disappearance of a 10-year-old Hickory girl, police said.

The bone was sent to the state Medical Examiner's office in Chapel hill for further examination.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8562927/

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:35 am

CBS News

3 November 2010

Zahra Baker's Stepmother Writes Her Husband "Knows What Happened" to Missing Girl; Is Letter Real?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20021683-504083.html

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:37 am

Fox News

3 November 2010

Bone Found in Search for Missing North Carolina Girl‎

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/03/bone-search-missing-north-carolina-girl/

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:40 am

Winston-Salem Journal

3 November 2010

Bone recovered in Zahra Baker case‎
Police plan to send the bone to the medical examiner's office for testing.

Hickory police recovered a bone Wednesday that may be connected to the Zahra Baker case.

Police would not confirm where the bone was recovered other than saying it was in Caldwell County. However, they spent the majority of the day searching along Christie Road, off Pine Mountain Road. Christie Road is the same area that Zahra Baker's prosthetic leg was found last week.

Deal would not comment on what part of the body the bone appears to be from.

Investigators with the SBI, Hickory Police Department and the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office arrived at Christie Road at about 9 a.m. Wednesday. During their search, they even siphoned water from a pond and drained it, but did not recover anything in there, said Maj. Clyde Deal with the Hickory Police Department.

The bone will now be sent to the medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill for testing. After those tests are completed, if it's determined the bone is connected to the Zahra Baker case, it will go to the SBI lab in Raleigh for additional tests, according to the Hickory Police Department.

Deal said investigators are not necessarily finished with the area.

"We are going back until we're satisfied we've recovered everything," he said.

http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2010/nov/03/11/bone-recovered-zahra-baker-case-ar-508596/

**pam supportfromireland** Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:17 pm

Thanks for all the updates Twiggy. This is undoubtedly one of the most horrifying cases yet by the sounds of it.

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:50 pm

Perth Now

4 November 2010

Police draining pond in Zahra Baker search as Elisa's 'letters point to dad Adam

US police today found a bone which could be connected to the case of missing Australian girl Zahra Baker.
The bone will be sent to the Medical Examiner’s office in Chapel Hill, South Carolina, for further examination, The Charlotte Observer said.

Hickory police made the discovery while draining a pond near the youngster's home in Caldwell County, The Charlotte Observer said.

Neighbours, however, told the paper the area smells "because hunters dump deer carcasses there".

The discovery follows the surfacing of two letters, allegedly written by Zahra's stepmother Elisa Baker from her prison cell, one of which places the blame for her step-daughter's disappearance on the girl's father, Adam Baker.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
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She also indicates Zahra "isn't missing", and that she and her husband didn't kill the 10-year-old.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/police-draining-pond-in-zahra-baker-search-as-elisas-letters-point-to-dad-adam/story-e6frg12c-1225947668481

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:52 pm

abc 11

3 November 2010

NC police: Bone tested for link to missing girl‎

Police in Hickory say they've recovered a bone that may be related to the case of a missing 10-year-old girl.

A police statement issued Wednesday said the bone is being sent to the state medical examiner's office to see if it's linked to Zahra Baker, whose father reported her missing Oct. 9. The bone was recovered in neighboring Caldwell County, where the family lived until mid-September.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7764120

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:54 pm

Associated Content

3 November 2010

Bone Found, Evidence of Missing Girl?‎

Bone Found Near Where Investigators Discovered Zahra Baker's Prosthetic Leg
Investigators scouring the area around the location where 10-year-old Zahra Baker's prosthetic leg was found discovered what they believe to be a human bone and, according to the
Charlotte Observer, police noted that the bone might be related to the missing girl's case. If so, the bone would be the first physical evidence of Zahra Baker that authorities have found since she was reported missing on October 9.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5970544/zahra_baker_case_bone_found_evidence.html?cat=8

**Twiglet** Fri Nov 05, 2010 9:42 pm

CBS News

4 Novemebr 2010

Bone May Be Linked to Case of Missing NC Girl‎

Police in Hickory say they've recovered a bone that may be related to the case of a missing 10-year-old girl.

A police statement issued Wednesday said the bone is being sent to the state medical examiner's office to see if it's linked to Zahra Baker, whose father reported her missing Oct. 9. The bone was recovered in neighboring Caldwell County, where the family lived until mid-September.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/04/national/main7021287.shtml

**Twiglet** Fri Nov 05, 2010 9:43 pm

AOL News

4 November 2010

Bone Found in Search for NC Girl to Be Examined‎

Investigators in North Carolina are delivering a bone that was found during a search for missing 10-year-old Zahra Clare Baker to the medical examiner's office today for further examination.

"As soon as they get it here, we'll be able to see if it is human or non-human," Kevin Gerity, an autopsy manager with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Chapel Hill, told AOL News.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/bone-found-in-search-for-north-carolina-girl-zahra-clare-baker-to-be-examined/19703311

**Twiglet** Sat Nov 06, 2010 3:20 am

ABC 11

5 November 2010

Zahra Baker's mom thinks daughter is dead‎

SYDNEY -- The biological mother of an Australian girl who was reported missing from her home in the U.S. nearly a month ago said through tears Friday that she believes her daughter is dead.

Emily Dietrich, whose 10-year-old daughter Zahra Baker was living in Hickory, N.C., with her father and stepmother, said she has little hope of seeing Zahra alive again.

"I don't feel it," she told Australia's Seven Network in her first interview since the girl's disappearance. "I reckon that mothers just have this bond with their children."......

...... "I never got to say goodbye," Dietrich said of her daughter, who relies on hearing aids and a prosthetic leg because of bone cancer.

Dietrich said she suffered postnatal depression after Zahra's birth and handed over custody to Adam Baker. Later, though, she decided she wanted to be in the girl's life and spent years trying to track the pair. But every time she found Baker, she said, he would disappear.

Using the Internet, she discovered he was living in the U.S. Just three days later, she said, Zahra was reported missing.

"Why would it happen that I would find her and three days later this would happen?" she said, sobbing.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/state&id=7766779

**pam supportfromireland** Sat Nov 06, 2010 4:08 am

oh good grief Twiggy, this is so sad.

**Twiglet** Sun Nov 07, 2010 10:02 am

Examiner

6 November 2010

Zahra Baker case: Bone found complete, not small chip or piece, say officials

According to authorities, the bone found during a search for evidence in the Zahra Clare Baker disappearance is not a small piece or a chip, but a complete bone.

Searchers discovered the bone Wednesday near Christie Road in Caldwell County where Zahra’s prosthetic leg was found last week. The girl wore the prosthesis, along with a hearing aid due to a bout with bone cancer.

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-national/zahra-baker-case-bone-found-not-small-chip-or-piece-say-officials

**Twiglet** Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:30 am

Fox Charlotte

7 November 2010

Search Continues For Zahra Baker

..... Police are waiting for results of a bone found in Caldwell County last week. Search crews discovered it in the same area where they found Zahra's prosthetic leg. Her stepmother, Elisa Baker, is still considered a person of interest in the case. She is in jail charged with obstruction of justice. Police say she admitted to writing a fake ransom note.

http://www.foxcharlotte.com/news/top-stories/Search-Continues-For-Zahra-Baker-106854569.html

**Twiglet** Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:33 am

WBTV Hickory

8 November 2010

Search for Zahra at Christie Road over for now; officials await bone test results

Officials await results on Monday from tests administered to the bone recovered in the search for the missing 10-year-old girl last week.
The State Bureau of Investigation lab began testing the bone, found near Christie Road in Caldwell County, last Friday. Once that examination is complete and if it is determined to be related to this case, it will be sent to the NC Medical Examiner's Office lab in Chapel Hill for further testing.
Also on Friday, search teams collected more evidence from the Christie Road area in Caldwell County. Law enforcement officials said that the items found quite possibly have nothing to do with the investigation, but they will all be tested as a precaution.
WBTV has also learned that the search at the Christie Road site is over for now, though officials reserve the right to return if necessary.

http://hickory.wbtv.com/content/search-zahra-christie-road-over-now-officials-await-bone-test-results

**pam supportfromireland** Tue Nov 09, 2010 8:47 pm

How long for results Twiggy? I hope extended family do not have too long to wait.This must be torture.

**Twiglet** Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:01 am

WCNC

8 November 2010

Investigators looking into Elisa Baker's finances

.... Investigators issued a subpoena for Elisa Baker's financial records. The subpoena was issued to a bank branch located in a Wal-Mart in Granite Falls.

The subpoena says she may have used as many as eight different aliases and also requested any financial transactions made by Baker's daughter from a previous marriage, Amber Fairchild.

Baker's attorney would not comment on the subpoena. Police will only say it is part of the investigation.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Cousin-Visits-Elisa-Baker-in-Jail-106915208.html

**Twiglet** Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:12 am

Daily Telegraph

10 Novemebr 2010

Zahra Baker's home stands abandoned in North Carolina‎

THE house where Australian 10-year-old Zahra Claire Baker lived with her father and American stepmother looks more like a haunted wreck than a family home.
A month after she vanished, the 10-year-old's clothes remain hanging in the wardrobe.

But that is the only remaining semblance of normality in the Hickory, North Carolina, home where she lived until being reported missing on October 9.

Huge holes are punched in the ceiling. The kitchen sink has been torn out and the floorboards in the bathroom ripped up.

Gaping holes, open to bare earth, can been seen in the floor of the little girl's pink room.

Rubbish is strewn through the hallway and stains cover the kitchen floor.

Ironically, in a case where her father Adam and step-mother Elisa remain suspects in a possible murder, the words Love, Laugh, Live are wall-papered inside one of the rooms.

The damage is the result of desperate investigators who have torn apart the home and dug up the yard looking for clues.

A local television station went inside the home yesterday and captured the images.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/zahras-home-a-dead-end-cops-admit/story-e6freuzr-1225950339746

**Twiglet** Wed Nov 10, 2010 7:19 am

Herald Sun

10 November 2010

Zahra Baker's home stands abandoned in North Carolina after dad's eviction

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/zahra-bakers-home-stands-abandoned-in-north-carolina/story-e6frf7lf-1225950540204

Chicane Thu Nov 11, 2010 1:05 am

Heartbreaking!

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:39 am

Winston-Salem Journal

10 November 2010

Investigators comb water, woods at Dudley Shoals‎

http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2010/nov/10/5/investigators-comb-water-woods-dudley-shoals-ar-526669/

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:34 pm

Examiner

10 November 2010

Zahra Baker search continues; medical examiner called to 'bone -infested’ area

According to media reports, in the continuing search for Zahra Clare Baker, investigators have returned to the wooded area at Dudley Shoals and have cordoned off the area from reporters, including declaring it a no-fly zone for helicopters. In addition, the medical examiner was reportedly called to the area as the search continued.

The Hickory Daily Record notes that in addition to looking along the banks of Gunpowder Creek, authorities are searching the water with teams wading in the pond and examining rocks.

.... Tommy Courtner, Caldwell County EMS director told the Daily Record about the location, saying “People have easy access to get in and out… The area is bone-infested.”

He added “We have a medical examiner from Chapel Hill on the scene… We’re looking for bags, boxes, bones, anything that can help us.”

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-national/zahra-baker-search-continues-medical-examiner-called-to-bone-infested-area

**Twiglet** Fri Nov 12, 2010 9:40 am

Associated Content

11 November 2010

Zahra Baker Case Has New Evidence in North Carolina‎

New evidence in the disappearance of Zahra Baker in North Carolina may have just surfaced. Zahra has now been missing for more than a month, and searches have continued to find some scrap of evidence as to what happened to her.

According to CNN, authorities in North Carolina state that they have recovered evidence that could provide valuable information in the case. That is about as extensive as the explanation got in their latest statement, so there is no telling exactly what it is that they have found. The secrecy surrounding this evidence must mean that it could be integral to the case, and revealing it could potentially damage the investigation at this point.

It's hard to call this "good news" when it involves searching for a little girl who has been missing for quite some time. The case has been one filled with sadness, especially with each revelation of how Zahra Baker was treated by her father and stepmother in the time before she went missing. Their delay in reporting that something had happened to her led to the immediate assumption that both Elisa Baker (the stepmother) and Adam Baker (the father) might have had something to do with it all.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5999116/zahra_baker_case_has_new_evidence_in.html?cat=17

**Twiglet** Fri Nov 12, 2010 9:42 am

Blue Ridge Now

11 November 2010

Cops: New evidence found in NC missing girl case‎

HICKORY, N.C. (AP) — Police said Thursday they have discovered new evidence in the case of a disabled North Carolina girl missing for more than a month, but authorities were tightlipped about exactly what they had found.

Hickory Police Department said it had given the evidence to analysts at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, but that detailing it may jeopardize their investigation.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20101111/NEWS/101119987/1016/OPINION02?Title=Cops-New-evidence-found-in-NC-missing-girl-case

**Twiglet** Fri Nov 12, 2010 9:43 am

AOL News

11 November 2010

NC Police: 'Valuable' New Evidence in Zahra Baker Case‎

Investigators in North Carolina said today they have located evidence that could provide valuable information in the case of Zahra Clare Baker, the 10-year-old disabled girl who is missing and feared slain.

"This evidence will be analyzed at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's lab," the Hickory, N.C., police department said in a press release. "We understand the concern and interest in this case by the public, but we must be cautious in prematurely releasing information so it will not jeopardize any future criminal proceedings."

Today, several media outlets, citing the Hickory Police Department as a source, claimed the evidence found at the search site consists of "possible human remains." Hickory police, however, deny making any such statements to the press.

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/north-carolina-police-valuable-new-evidence-in-zahra-baker-case/19713026

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